Kelly brings it home

Writing from Aurora, Illinois

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

From the start on Wednesday, it was clear Tim “Tee-K” Kelly was playing with a purpose. This final round of the 72nd Illinois Open was anything but a casual round of golf for him. This was business.

He and brother-caddie Will talked about the line on every tee, every approach, every putt. Kelly’s game was sharp, undistracted by the many family members and friends from Medinah Country Club watching him. Draining a downhill 15-foot curler for birdie after hitting his approach into a shortside greenside bunker on the par-5 first hole was the first clue.

Put it this way. To beat him, Luke Gannon of Mahomet, who started the day in second, would have to score five strokes under whatever Kelly shot.

When Kelly went out in 4-under-par 32, Gannon understood that wasn’t going to happen. (Back in the pack, Daniel Hudson was matching the Stonebridge Country Club course record with a 10-under 62, about which more later.)

Even when Kelly pulled his tee shot on the par-5 14th out of bounds, and stumbled to a three-putt double-bogey 7, it wasn’t going to happen.

“I knew an eagle would be huge there, and made a bad par,” Gannon said, hoping for a four-shot swing.

Kelly, from Wheaton, birdied the next two holes anyway, sinking putts of 10 and 15 feet to erase the double and Gannon’s last hope for an upset.

Only scoring records were in question by then. Kelly cruised to a 4-under 68 and total of 17-under 199 to annex Illinois Open and add it to his two Illinois Amateur titles from the previous decade. In so doing, he collected a record $25,080 from the professional purse of $105,010, and became the 10th player to score the Open-Am career double.

“Winning golf tournaments is never easy, but it sure is a lot of fun when you pull it off,” said Kelly, who had three top-nine finishes in his previous four starts, including a tie for third last year. “I’ve never had too close of a call, but I feel I’ve put myself in contention a fair bit.”

His wire-to-wire lead this year made sure that only Gannon, and barely, had something of a close call this year. Kelly hit 12 of 14 fairways, as did Gannon, and 13 greens in regulation, and took 31 putts. Gannon, who birdied the first two holes, hit one more green and had 28 putts, but his second straight 67 for 14-under 202 didn’t get him the trophy. But the consolation prize of $14,765 will heal any mental wounds.

“I kinda figured I had to play pretty close to perfect,” Gannon said.

That category was already taken by Kelly.

Hudson fires a 62

Daniel Hudson is a 26-year-old Chicagoan who, like many others in the Illinois Open field, wants to make it to the PGA Tour sooner rather than later. The Lyons Township and Kansas grad displayed tourish skills Wednesday, equaling the Stonebridge course record with a 10-under 62.

He equaled Joe Jimenez’s score from the third round of the 1995 Ameritech Senior Open – when Jimenez was merely 69 – and the numbers Rosie Jones and Annika Sorenstam posted in the first round of the 2003 Kellogg-Keebler Classic.

Hudson did so from a greater distance – 6,932 yards – than any of the others. It vaulted him from mid-pack to solo third with a total of 10-under 206 and earned him $9,029.

“I had no idea about the course record, so that’s a bonus,” Hudson said. “I think the toughest thing is when you get to a certain point (under par), you want to keep going, but you don’t want to make decisions that would alter the progress of the round. So mentally that’s the toughest thing, when you get to 6-, 7-, or 8-under and you’ve got some holes left. But it was a great day.

“I set a goal at the start of the day to shoot the lowest round of the tournament, so I think I’ve got that.”

Hudson bogeyed the fourth and 11th holes, but eagled the par-5 ninth with a 230-yard hybrid and 30-foot putt, and birdied 10 others, including six of the last seven.

“I was able to get over the mental battle of commitment and conviction, just doing it, which was really good,” Hudson said. “I’ve struggled with that pretty much all summer."

If a 62 doesn’t brighten the attitude, nothing will.

Around Stonebridge

Mac McClear of Hinsdale and Iowa’s golf team was low amateur, finishing with a 2-under 70 for 7-under 209. … Kelly’s 17-under score to par across three days of near-windless conditions matched the mark set by Carlos Sainz at Royal Fox and Royal Hawk in 2016. His 199 aggregate matches second-best in Illinois Open history, tying David Cooke in 2015 and behind only Sainz’s 197 in 2016. … Kelly pulled the trigger on the $5,250 entry fee for Korn Ferry Tour qualifying last weekend, saying the money he won for tying for third on the Forme Tour stop at Purdue effectively covered it. … The field averaged 71.91 strokes, even with many cups tucked in locations than Stonebridge members have never aimed it. … Brandon Holtz eagled the par-4 second hole, a 346-yard test. He shot 4-under 68 and tied for 18th at 1-under 215. … Illinois Amateur champion Ethan Farnam posted two eagles in the final round and scored 5-under 67 to total 4-under 212 and tie for ninth. … 

– Tim Cronin